White House Meeting With Pro-Life Leaders

CNS News:

Pro-life leaders will meet Tuesday with the director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships to discuss ways to reduce the number of abortions in the United States.

Representatives from conservative groups - Concerned Women for America (CWA), the Family Research Council, Care Net and the Christian Medical and Dental Association - will attend the meeting with Josh Dubois, executive director of the faith-based office and a former evangelical pastor.

Read the whole story: CNS News

Comments

[Paralogos]

The headline makes it sound as if pro-life organizers went to the White House. The "White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships" has "White House" in the name, but their offices aren't in the White House. They're in executive branch offices elsewhere in Washington.

[Weirdwriter]

Uber-conservatives hate the idea of pregnancy-­prevention if it still allows the possibility of having sex. That's why anything as sensible as the possibility of common ground will be rejected for the fantasy of scorched earth policy.

[rosiebond007]

The PRO-LIFERS are always emphasizing abortion as the alternative that Pro-Choicers use.
They use PLANNED PARENTHOOD like a throwaway statement but it means ....

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ......

teaching women of all reproductive age, the very best way to PLAN TO BE A PARENT.
This is the way to significantly reduce abortionswith plenty of information, pros and cons, lots of healthy discussion and information.

Pro-Lifers screaming about murder is plain stupid - GROW UP

[Nosmanic]

I tried to talk to this guy that was religionly conservative and agree with him that I also believed in abstaince and then why and I had secular for the individual. But he won't listen to me, I guess in his mind the only 'real' reason to abstain was for religion reasons, that's the religion's conservatives you have to believe what they believe unquestionly and for their reasons otherwise your judus.

[Retrofuturistic]

I wish Obama would stop sucking up to the fundies. Why does he do it? Because they have the money that religion brings?

Why does he cater to the people who elected George W. Bush and thus caused the downfall of our economy?

Our country has already suffered enough damage from these people.

[carrieanna]

I don't seem to agree with the majority of posters here, it seems. I feel safe in knowing that Obama will work to preserve the rights of medical privacy to keep abortion safe and legal. However, I think it's a great idea for Obama's administration to meet with his "enemies" to see what we *can* agree with. Obviously, waiting until a fetus needs to be removed via medical procedure is not ideal for women, psychologically, financially nor physically. Obama's hope for better healthcare dovetails in pushing for more birth control options for women. It's a good opportunity to prove that prevention works better than anything else.

And I feel confident in Obama's persuasive abilities to push these anti-abortion groups to put their money where their mouth is. The sad truth is that they are not doing as much as they can to prevent pregnancies. If our government doesn't want to fund sex education in schools, why *can't* we have charities fund sex ed programs? Granted, I'd want those to be unbiased. No more sticking their heads in the sand and only teaching abstinence. And honestly, I'd love those sex ed courses to go one step further and push for better rape prevention.

I've never doubted Obama's negotiating skills. And he has a quiet strength that can disarm his enemy. I'm not afraid of losing my rights just because he meets with a fringe group.

[ailbhe]

I agree with you about his negotiating skills! These people are so extreme and brainwashed in their ideology though, that I doubt it will have any effect on them. They are not just anti abortion but also anti contraception, so there is a problem.

But I guess it is a good idea to keep your enemies in a close line of vision.

[truth2008]

Let one of these hypocrites get a debilitating disease and watch how quick they change their views on stem cell research. They call themselves pro-life, but care nothing about the thousands killed in Iraq, or the death penalty!

[SJBrown]

but care nothing about the thousands killed in Iraq, or the death penalty!

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

It varies by group and individual. I think the common thread is the belief that abortion takes a life.

[patricksmom]

Thank you SJB. It does vary by group and individual. I am a practicing Catholic who voted for President Obama, support many of his initiatives, am opposed to the death penalty and have been opposed to the Iraq war from day one. I am against abortiion, because I do believe that it takes a life.

[lew]

They're not really pro-life; they're anti-choice. America's own Taliban wanna-be's. It's all about control. They don't care about the children once they are born. Nobody is pro-abortion. We all would like to see less abortion but the same people who are so vocal about a woman having the choice are usually against sex ed, birth control rights, morning after pills, health of the mother, etc. You can't have it both ways. If you are against abortion, you should be doing everything possible to helping women to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

[SJBrown]

I think it's so cliche to say nobody is pro-abortion. Really? Sure there are people that are pro-abortion. There are extremes on both sides of this issue.

[patricksmom]

Thanks again SJ.

[truth2008]

Strange that you never saw the pro-life movement marching to stop the thousands of live's lost in the Iraq war. You never see them marching or meeting to protests the death penalty, I guess they are only concerned with abortion, and want to force their religious fanaticism on others!

[ramblingjohnny]

They need more meat for the next GOP grinder!

[rikkirighteous]

Seems to be a continual ignorance over the assumed contradiction between someone being pro-life but also for the death penalty.

It's all about INNOCENT life. See, the baby in the womb is as innocent as you can get. The death row criminal is not. He has, in essence, given up his right to life when he took another's.

Some, revealingly, see the reverse and would rather protect the murderer and blame the victim, who, after all, got what they deserved. 911 was a great example of this type of mind-set. Poor terrorists vs. Evil USA.

The embryonic stem cell question is one of ethics: how many babies would you kill to possibly/m­aybe/hopef­ully-in-th­e-future extend your life by one day or one month or one year?

[tifaret]

no one's talking about killing babies....embryos are not babies, and they would eventually be destroyed anyway...

[HonorJusticeTruth]

If that baby is so innocent, then why does the world's largest Christian sect prohibit unbabtized babies from being buried on the Hallowed Ground section of their cemetaries?

[patricksmom]

Honor,
Still spreading something from the past.?

[Nosmanic]

"INNOCENT life" what about original sin? Is it ok to kill after birth because of original sin? I grew up Catholic.

911 those Iraq children must have funded terrorists and those woman that were ethically cleanized I don't know the reason ask Rush he hates women

[jazabelz]

I am completely against the mingling of religion and government and am completely opposed to the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. This is a great example of the far right, religious nuts trying to impose their will on women not only in this country but around the world. It's almost laughable that the Republicans like to say they are for individual freedom in this country, but I guess that doesn't apply to women! They need to keep their nose out of my business. I'll make my own decisions.

[Nosmanic]

Amen

[helonias]

Will they bring all their adopted kids?

[Liberalforsure]

Pro lifers love war and hunting

[000Jade000]

Meanwhile, Catholic leaders are boycotting the President because of his support for stem cell research.

[Liberalforsure]

And I am boycotting catholicism.

[Montreaux1991]

I've been a recovering catholic for 14 years.

[grata2ude]

Now this is what gets me. Stem cells could save lives. So they are either for life or not. Those embryonic cells are not living. They could be potential life givers when used to cure diseases. What greater purpose is there in life than to save another life?

[NoMoosestew]

The embryonic cells are discarded as medical waste. Instead of them being thrown out there being used for science. So what? It isn't like anyone takes the cells and puts them in tiny coffins.

[demigod]

If you really read what the "Pro-Life" people want - you see how crazy they are. They are NOT interested in reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies, they are NOT interested in reducing the number of unwanted children being brought into this world, they are NOT interested in reducing the number of unwed mothers, or births of defective children, or children conceived criminally, they are NOT interested in reducing the number of kids in orphanages, they are not interested in stopping the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, they are NOT interested in reducing the costs to society of mindless procreation. They ONLY want a reduction in the number of abortions. They are interested only in one thread of the complex fabric of human sexuality. Why meet with them - we know what they will say, having heard it verbatim for many years. They have a political point of view with no solutions, we have problems to address.

[noamjunior]

disagree with the statement "They ONLY want a reduction in the number of abortions"
because they are against the things that would reduce abortion (sex ed, birth control)-
they only want to CRIMINALIZE a legit medical procedure

[truth2008]

They only settled for a reduction in abortions when they lost the fight to ban abortions. They want to cram their religious fanaticism down everyone's throat! The religious right T.a.l.i.b.a.n
are nothing but hypocrites! Hey pro-lifers, go protest the Iraq war and the death penalty!

[ScaryBob]

Wow, I thought I was the only one that realizes this. Right on. What you said.

[SJBrown]

I think they simply believe life begins at conception. I don't think they have to agree to a "life agenda" to be sincere. I think that the politics of it has been problematic especially the use of the term "baby" for all stages of pregnancy. There is room for a debate on when life begins but I don't believe you can make a woman have a baby if she doesn't want to. I certainly want that option although I'd use and advocate other women using birth control as the first line of prevention and more responsible approach.

[patricksmom]

Demigod,
Complete nonsense is your post. That description may apply to some fringe.